Roll Call

The House : Public Housing

The House reduced by half the number of new public housing units proposed as part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's fiscal 1986 budget. The vote was 213 for and 204 against. The action cut the number of new units from 10,000 to 5,000, the same number funded in fiscal 1985. This sliced $990 million from the proposed HUD appropriation, which later was set at $14.9 billion.

The appropriations bill (HR 3038) was sent to the Senate.

Supporter Toby Roth (R-Wis.) said: "We have got too many 'yes but-ers' in this body," lawmakers who say, 'I am concerned about the deficit but not on this bill.' "

Opponent Edward Boland (D-Mass.) said: "I have been dealing with these housing programs now for some 30 years or better, and . . . in my judgment this is one of the most important housing programs to deal with the problems of the poor."

Members voting yes wanted to cut the fiscal 1986 appropriation for new public housing by $990 million.

By a vote of 288 for and 133 against, the House exempted several agencies from a proposed 2.65% cut in the fiscal 1986 Treasury Department appropriations bill. This reduced the proposed cut from $192 million to $35 million.

President Reagan was opposed to the amendment, which exempted the Postal Service, Internal Revenue Service, Customs Service, Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and certain law enforcement training programs from the the budget reduction.

The House later sent the bill (HR 3036) to the Senate.

Sponsor Ronald Coleman (D-Tex.) called it "penny-wise . . . but pound-foolish" to inflict cuts on agencies such as the IRS and Customs Service that generate revenue for the Treasury.

Opponent Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.) said: "The taxpayers would rather see a reduction in spending than some fabled increase in tax revenues out in the never-never land of the future."

Members voting yes supported a $35-million rather than $192-million cut in the Treasury appropriations bill.

The House rejected, 112 for and 300 against, an amendment to freeze the fiscal 1986 appropriation for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Science Foundation at 1985 levels. The amendment sought to cut $160 million from the NASA budget and $22 million from the science foundation budget. It was proposed to the 1986 appropriations bill for HUD and other agencies (HR 3038, above).

Opponent Herbert Bateman (R-Va.) praising the space program, said: "A mindless freeze that freezes everything without regard to the implications on our body politic is not the way to achieve budget reduction."